


Care and Handling

by riddering



Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-21 01:21:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13730112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riddering/pseuds/riddering
Summary: Shuri observes Bucky amidst the Avengers and she acts.





	Care and Handling

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after Black Panther--in the free and wild timeline before Infinity War comes along and sets new canon in stone. It is gen but I also think of it is as pre-Shuri/Bucky.

They arrive--the Avengers, the fugitives, the entourage. They are not quite what Shuri had expected. They are loud and brittle. They are monochrome. They do not lack respect, but they have their own pace of time and it jars with hers. 

Her lab knows no peace for some time. 

Bucky becomes a shadow now. Or, rather, a statue. He is stiff and quiet and still. Few acknowledge him, and no one touches him. That observation stays with Shuri. Black Widow stares him down and then nods in a manner meant to reveal nothing to outsiders. Falcon crosses his arms when he spies Bucky but drops a joke to the room about man buns not being timeless. Shuri laughs when no one else does, but quietly.

Iron Man and War Machine, with their noisy suits and stomping, stay away. The Vision and Scarlet Witch are aware of nothing but each other and the mission. There are others, so many others, but they are not intimate with this strange circle of drama that her brother became involved in months ago.

When Captain America came--the first of them all--Shuri made herself busy so she could grant them some privacy while still seeing everything. She was the royalty in the room after all. Maybe her brother would expect her to leave her own lab but he has too many noble ideas. The captain’s eyes were wild in scanning the room until his gaze fell upon Bucky. He said his name in a relieved exhale. Bucky did not make the captain walk to him. They met each other in the middle of the room and then stopped. She expected to see a hug like the ones she forces upon her brother whenever she remembers him disappearing from her sight into the waterfall. Instead, with raw emotion breaking across both their faces, they stopped as though an invisible barrier kept them apart. After some words and assurances, they grasped each other’s shoulders in an unspoken and strange negotiation. It was not at all what she expected but they settled into comfort beside each other after that moment.

The captain watches everyone who approaches Bucky, as she does, but where she is curious he is tense as the Dora Milaje, prepared for any eventuality when someone nears their king.

After this, Shuri thinks back to what she knows of Bucky. It is easy now to see that he does not initiate contact. She has never seen him react poorly to it—not from her or the river tribe children or T'Challa. But he has never reached out first. 

Because she knows him well now and knows her touch is not unwelcome, Shuri does not hold back after her discovery. While the foreigners remain distant, she places her hand on his shoulder to draw his attention. Or she takes his hands in hers when any moment of quiet is offered. "This is more like it. Not so many voices, right?" 

The first time he sheds the robes that he has worn since waking to wear the outsider’s utilitarian black Shuri stands beside him. She does not like this uniform for him.

“I will make you something else. This is no good for anything but hiding.”

His eyes soften when he smiles at her. That is better. This is the man she knows as Bucky. Not the man shoved into military garb and expected to play soldier again.

Like touch, Bucky is not the one who acts first when the weapons appear. He is handed a gun, large and unwieldy. He disappears into blankness once he examines the gun and straps it to his body. This too offends Shuri’s sensibilities. A war of galaxies may be upon them, but Bucky is not a nameless weapon to be armed with primitive tools and then unleashed. There is time for her to fix this as well. She will not have all her work undone if the leaders of this battle forget the man underneath the skill and try to program him for killing again.

She presents blasters to him, a cousin to her own claws. They remain untouched on display while she shows him what they can do through the blueprints and a very helpful tutorial video she put together. Shuri does not say they are for his use but he reaches out, picks them up, and asks her to explain them one more time.

Stillness and peace return to him afterward. Not the lifeless pose of his while the crowd of Avengers is present but the softness she has seen him exude. Like the way he sat at the lakeside and smiled when the sun rose and bathed him in light. Shuri is no Wakandan sunrise, and the natural beauty of her country is one of few things she knows she cannot best, but her work here is impeccable as always. She's achieved what she wanted. 

T’Challa thinks she will fight him when their forces prepare to depart, and she is asked to stay behind. The desire to do so remains inside her but there is some patience holding her back now. She thinks of the vicious sting of Killmonger’s fists upon her body. She recalls the deeper pain when she watched that man slice her brother and throw his body aside. She knows what war and killing and violence did to Bucky. She can see similar scars on the souls of each and every Avenger.

One day she will need to stand and face trials such as those but until then she is at peace with her place at the backs of those who battle.

So instead she counsels her brother to listen to her wise words and follow her directions. As they hug, the room empties but that is not good.

“Captain,” she calls out and stands strong when he stops and turns, focused on her with all his natural commanding presence.

“A word please,” she says, and it is very difficult not to smile when T’Challa does. She is using the captain’s tone and phrase on him; his raised eyebrows tell her he knows this. Playing at command gives her a rush. She knows in the future she will be ready to more than play at it.

Her brother leaves them be and guides Bucky along with him, an arm on his elbow effortless and unafraid to guide and be followed. Bucky’s last look back is cowed, and that makes it impossible for Shuri to hold back her smile. This moment is weighty but her faith that everyone will return wins over her fear. The butterflies in her stomach now strike delight rather than upset.

"I must request something of you."

Captain America smiles without any condescension. He folds his arms behind his back and nods. 

"You will pass this along to Bucky while I am not there to do it myself."

His stance tightens and that deep wrinkle between his eyes appears. He is totally unprepared for her to step up to him and wrap her arms around his body in a hug. He huffs out a laugh and returns the embrace. 

"I can do that, your highness."

"That is good. Your arms hold more than mine. You can fit him inside. I try but these arms are so small compared to super soldiers!" 

She moves away and gestures at her more limited arm span. She can be humble in this. Just this once. 

The captain returns to his military pose and she expects a salute. Instead, he bows deeply. 

With a laugh, she tells him, "Now go and help my brother and I save the world." 

He is touched by her caring. He will take that with him. That is how she knows they will come home.


End file.
